As of 2005[update], estimates classified 54% (3.6 billion people) of the world's population as adherents of an Abrahamic religion, about 32% as adherents of other religions, and 16% as adherents of no organized religion. Christianity claims 33% of the world's population, Islam has 21%, Judaism has 0.2%[12][13] and the Bahá'í Faith represents around 0.1%.[14][15]

It has been suggested that the phrase, "Abrahamic religion", may simply mean that all these religions come from one spiritual source.[according to whom?][3] Christians refer to Abraham as a "father in faith".[Rom. 4] There is an Islamic religious term, Millat Ibrahim (faith of Ibrahim),[4][5] indicating that Islam sees itself as having practices tied to the traditions of Abraham.[16] Jewish tradition claims descent from Abraham, and adherents follow his practices and ideals as the first of the three spiritual "fathers" or biblical Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

It is the Islamic tradition that Muhammad, as an Arab, is descended from Abraham's son Ishmael. Jewish tradition also equates the descendants of Ishmael, Ishmaelites, with Arabs, as the descendants of Isaac by Jacob, who was also later known as Israel, are the Israelites.[18]

The Báb, regarded by Bahá'í's as a predecessor to Bahá'u'lláh, was a Sayyid, or a direct descendant of Muhammad and thus traces his ancestry to Abraham's son Ishmael. Tradition also holds that Bahá'u'lláh is a descendant of Abraham through his third wife, Keturah.[19]

Adam Dodds argues that the term "Abrahamic faiths", while helpful, can be considered misleading, as it conveys an unspecified historical and theological commonality that is problematic on closer examination. While there is commonality among the religions, in large measure their shared ancestry is peripheral to their respective foundational beliefs and thus conceals crucial differences.[21] For example, the common Christian beliefs of Incarnation, Trinity and the resurrection of Jesus are not accepted by Judaism or Islam (see for example Islamic view of Jesus' death). There are key beliefs in both Islam and Judaism that are not shared by most of Christianity (such as strict monotheism and adherence to Divine Law), and key beliefs of Islam, Christianity, and the Bahá'í Faith not shared by Judaism (such as the prophetic and Messianic position of Jesus, respectively).[22]

The Bahá'í Faith began within the context of Shi'a Islam in 19th-century Persia, after a merchant named Siyyid `Alí Muḥammad Shírází claimed divine revelation and took on the title of the Báb, or "the Gate". The Bab's ministry proclaimed the imminent advent of "He whom God shall make manifest", who Bahá'í's accept as Bahá'u'lláh. Bahá'í's revere the Torah, Gospels and the Qur'an, and the writings of the Báb, Bahá'u'lláh, and `Abdu’l-Bahá' are considered the central texts of the faith. A vast majority of adherents are unified under a single denomination.[23]

Lesser-known Abrahamic religions, originally offshoots of Shia Islam, include Bábism[n 8] and the Druze faith.[24]

The unifying characteristic of Abrahamic religions is that all accept the tradition that God revealed himself to the patriarch Abraham.[25] All are monotheistic, and conceive God to be a transcendentcreator and the source of moral law.[26] Their religious texts feature many of the same figures, histories, and places, although they often present them with different roles, perspectives, and meanings.[27] Believers who agree on these similarities and the common Abrahamic origin tend to also be more positive towards other Abrahamic groups.[28]

In these four Abrahamic religions the individual, God, and the universe are highly separate from each other. The Abrahamic religions believe in a judging, paternal, fully external god to which the individual and nature are subordinate. One seeks salvation or transcendence not by contemplating the natural world or via philosophical speculation, but by seeking to please God (such as obedience with God's wishes or his law) and see divine revelation as outside of self, nature, and custom. Christianity differs somewhat in that it includes the key tenet of 'salvation by grace' and not through seeking to please God or by good works. Obedience for the Christian is expected as a natural response to having received salvation. This tenet is based on the Abrahamic principle of righteousness imputed by faith, and only through the provision of payment for sin by Jesus' sacrificial death as the promised Messiah.[citation needed]

All Abrahamic religions claim to be monotheistic, worshiping an exclusive God, although known by different names.[25] All of these religions believe that God creates, is one, rules, reveals, loves, judges, punishes, and forgives.[21][need quotation to verify] However, although Christianity does not profess to believe in three gods — but rather three persons, or hypostases, united in one essence — the Trinitarian doctrine, which is a fundamental of faith for the vast majority of Christian denominations[citation needed], conflicts with Jewish, Muslim, and Bahá'í concepts of monotheism. Since the conception of divine Trinity is not amenable to tawhid, the Islamic doctrine of monotheism, Islam considers Christianity to be variously polytheistic[citation needed].

Jesus (Arabic: Isa or Yasu among Muslims and Arab Christians respectively) is revered by Christianity, Islam, and the Bahá'í Faith but with vastly differing conceptions; viewed as the saviour by Christians (and God incarnate by most Christians as well), as a Prophet of Islam[29] and Messiah by Muslims, and as the Messiah and a Manifestation of God (but not God incarnate, but the presence of God) by Bahá'í's.[30] However, the worship of Jesus, or the ascribing of partners to God (known as shirk in Islam and shituf in Judaism), is typically viewed as the heresy of idolatry by Islam and Judaism and misguided by the Bahá'ís. The incarnation of God into human form is also seen as a heresy by Judaism, Islam, and the Bahá'í Faith.

All the Abrahamic religions affirm one eternal God who created the universe, who rules history, who sends prophetic and angelic messengers and who reveals the divine will through inspired revelation. They also affirm that obedience to this creator deity is to be lived out historically, and that one day God will unilaterally intervene in human history at the Last Judgment.[citation needed]

Jerusalem is considered Judaism's holiest city. Its origins can be dated to 1004 BCE[32] when according to Biblical tradition David established it as the capital of the United Kingdom of Israel, and his son Solomon built the First Temple on Mount Moriah.[33] Since the Hebrew Bible relates that Isaac's sacrifice took place there, Mount Moriah's importance for Jews predates even these prominent events. Jews thrice daily pray in its direction, including in their prayers pleas for the restoration and the rebuilding of the Holy Temple (the Third Temple) on mount Moriah, close the Passover service with the wistful statement "Next year in built Jerusalem," and recall the city in the blessing at the end of each meal. Jerusalem has served as the only capital for five out of six Jewish states that have existed in Israel since 1400 BCE (the United Kingdom of Israel, the Kingdom of Judah, Yehud Medinata, the Hasmonean Kingdom, and modern Israel) with the exception of the Khazar State. It has been majority Jewish since about 1852 and continues through today.[34][35]

Jerusalem became holy to Muslims, third after Mecca and Medina (even though not mentioned by name in the Qur'an). The Al-Aqsa mosque, which translates to "farthest mosque" in suraAl-Isra in the Qur'an and its surroundings are addressed in the Qur'an as "the holy land". Muslim tradition as recorded in the ahadith identifies al-Aqsa with a mosque in Jerusalem. The first Muslims did not pray toward Kaaba (Al-Haram Mosque), but toward Jerusalem (this was the qibla for 13 years): the qibla was switched to Kaaba later on to fulfill the order of Allah of praying in the direction of Kaaba (Quran, Al-Baqarah 2:144-150). Another reason for its significance is its connection with the Miʿrāj,[37] where, according to traditional Muslim, Muhammad ascended through the Seven heavens on a winged mule named Buraq, guided by the Archangel Gabriel, beginning from the Foundation Stone on the Temple Mount, in modern times under the Dome of the Rock.[38][39]

Challenges to the terms “Abrahamic religions” and “Abrahamic traditions”[edit]

The appropriateness of grouping Judaism, Christianity, and Islam by the terms “Abrahamic religions” or “Abrahamic traditions” has been challenged in the following books.

In 2012, Alan L. Berger, Professor of Judaic Studies at Florida Atlantic University, in his Preface to Trialogue and Terror: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam after 9/11 wrote that there are “commonalities,” but “there are essential differences between the Abrahamic traditions” both “historical and theological.” Although “Judaism birthed both Christianity and Islam,” the “three monotheistic faiths went their separate ways.” The three faiths “understand the role of Abraham” in “differing ways,” and the relationships between Judaism and Christianity and between Judaism and Islam are “uneven.” Also, the three traditions are “demographically unbalanced and ideologically diverse.”[40]

Also in 2012, Aaron W. Hughes published a book about the category Abrahamic Religions as an example of “abuses of history.” He said that only recently the category “Abrahamic religions” has come into use and that it is a “vague referent.” It is “largely a theological neologism” and “an artificial and imprecise” term. Combining the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religions into this one category might serve the purpose of encouraging “interfaith trialogue,” but it is not true to the “historical record.” Abrahamic religions is “an ahistorical category.” There are “certain family resemblances” among these three religions, but the “amorphous” term Abrahamic religions prevents an understanding of the “complex nature” of the interactions among them. Furthermore, the three religions do not share the same story of Abraham. For these and other reasons, Hughes argued that the term should not be used, at least in academic circles.[41]

For Jews, Abraham (with his wife, Sarah) is the founding patriarch of the children of Israel. God promised Abraham: "I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you."[Gen. 12:2] With Abraham, God entered into "an everlasting covenant throughout the ages to be God to you and to your offspring to come."[Gen. 17:7] It is this covenant that makes Abraham and his descendants children of the covenant. Similarly, converts, who join the covenant, are all identified as sons and daughters of Abraham (and Sarah).

Abraham is primarily a revered ancestor or patriarch (referred to as Avraham Avinu (אברהם אבינו in Hebrew) "Abraham our father") to whom God made several promises: chiefly, that he would have numberless descendants, who would receive the land of Canaan (the "Promised Land"). According to Jewish tradition, Abraham was the first post-Flood prophet to reject idolatry through rational analysis, although Shem and Eber carried on the tradition from Noah.[43][44]

Christian commentators have a tendency to interpret God's promises to Abraham as applying to Christianity subsequent to, and sometimes rather than (as in supersessionism), being applied to Judaism, whose adherents rejected Jesus. They argue this on the basis that just as Abraham as a Gentile (before he was circumcised) "believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness" [Gen. 15:6] (cf. Rom. 4:3, James 2:23), "those who have faith are children of Abraham" [Gal. 3:7] (see also John 8:39). This is most fully developed in Paul's theology where all who believe in God are spiritual descendants of Abraham.[Rom. 4:20][Gal. 4:9][47] However, with regards to Rom. 4:20[48] and Gal. 4:9[49], in both cases he refers to these spiritual descendants as the "sons of God"[Gal. 4:26] rather than "children of Abraham".[50]

For Muslims, Abraham is a prophet, the "messenger of God" who stands in the line from Adam to Muhammad, to whom God gave revelations,[Quran4:163], who "raised the foundations of the House" (i.e., the Kaaba)[Quran2:127] with his first son, Isma'il, a symbol of which is every mosque.[51] Ibrahim (Abraham) is the first in a genealogy for Muhammad. Islam considers Abraham to be "one of the first Muslims" (Surah 3)—the first monotheist in a world where monotheism was lost, and the community of those faithful to God,[52] thus being referred to as ابونا ابراهيم or "Our Father Abraham", as well as Ibrahim al-Hanif or "Abraham the Monotheist". Also, the same as Judaism, Islam believes that Abraham rejected idolatry through logical reasoning. Abraham is also recalled in certain details of the annual Hajj pilgrimage.[53]

After being conquered and exiled, some members of the Kingdom of Judah eventually returned to Israel. They later formed an independent state under the Hasmonean dynasty in the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE, before becoming a client kingdom of the Roman Empire, which also conquered the state and dispersed its inhabitants. From the 2nd to the 6th centuries Jews wrote the Talmud, a lengthy work of legal rulings and Biblical exegesis which, along with the Tanakh, is a key text of Judaism.

Islam is based on the teachings of the Quran. Although it considers Muhammad to be the Seal of the prophets, Islam teaches that every prophet preached Islam, providing a historical back-story for the religion by independently recognizing Jewish and Christian prophets, and adding others. The teachings of Quran are presented as the direct revelation and words of Allah. Islam (meaning "submission", in the sense of submission to God) is universal (membership is open to anyone); like Judaism, it has a strictly unitary conception of God, called tawhid, or "strict" or "simple" monotheism.[55] Early disputes over who would lead Muslims following the death of Muhammad led to a split between Sunni and Shia, Islam's two main denominations.

The Star of David (or Magen David), is a generally recognized symbol of modern Jewish identity and Judaism.

In Jewish theology, God is strictly monotheistic. God is an absolute one, indivisible and incomparable being who is the ultimate cause of all existence. Jewish tradition teaches that the true aspect of God is incomprehensible and unknowable, and that it is only God's revealed aspect that brought the universe into existence, and interacts with mankind and the world. In Judaism, the one God of Israel is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who is the guide of the world, delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt, and gave them the 613 Mitzvot at Mount Sinai as described in the Torah.

The national god of the Israelites has a proper name, written YHWH (Hebrew: יְהֹוָה, ModernYehovah, TiberianYəhōwāh) in the Hebrew Bible. The name YHWH is a combination of the future, present, and past tense of the verb "howa" (Hebrew: הוה‎‎) meaning "to be" and translated literally means "The self-existent One". A further explanation of the name was given to Moses when YHWH stated Eheye Asher Eheye (Hebrew: אהיה אשר אהיה‎‎) "I will be that I will be", the name relates to God as God truly is, God's revealed essence, which transcends the universe. It also represents God's compassion towards the world. In Jewish tradition another name of God is Elohim, relating to the interaction between God and the universe, God as manifest in the physical world, it designates the justice of God, and means "the One who is the totality of powers, forces and causes in the universe".

Around the year 200, Tertullian formulated a version of the doctrine of the Trinity which clearly affirmed the divinity of Jesus and came close to the later definitive form produced by the Ecumenical Council of 381.[59][60] Trinitarians, who form the large majority of Christians, hold it as a core tenet of their faith.[61][62]Nontrinitarian denominations define the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in a number of different ways.[63]

The theology of the attributes and nature of God has been discussed since the earliest days of Christianity, with Irenaeus writing in the 2nd century: "His greatness lacks nothing, but contains all things".[64] In the 8th century, John of Damascus listed eighteen attributes which remain widely accepted.[65] As time passed, theologians developed systematic lists of these attributes, some based on statements in the Bible (e.g., the Lord's Prayer, stating that the Father is in Heaven), others based on theological reasoning.[66][67]

In Islamic theology, God (Arabic: الله‎‎ Allāh) is the all-powerful and all-knowing creator, sustainer, ordainer and judge of everything in existence.[68] Islam emphasizes that God is strictly singular (tawḥīd )[69] unique (wāḥid ) and inherently One (aḥad ), all-merciful and omnipotent.[70] According to Islamic teachings, God exists without place[71] and according to the Quran, "No vision can grasp him, but His grasp is over all vision: He is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things."[72] God, as referenced in the Quran, is the only God.[73][74] Islamic tradition also describes the 99 names of God. These 99 names describe attributes of God, including Most Merciful, The Just, The Peace and Blessing, and the Guardian.

Islamic belief in God is distinct from Christianity in that God has no progeny. This belief is summed up in chapter 112 of the Qur'an titled Al-Ikhlas, which states "Say, he is Allah (who is) one, Allah is the Eternal, the Absolute. He does not beget nor was he begotten. Nor is there to Him any equivalent".[Quran112:1]

All these religions rely on a body of scriptures, some of which are considered to be the word of God—hence sacred and unquestionable—and some the work of religious men, revered mainly by tradition and to the extent that they are considered to have been divinely inspired, if not dictated, by the divine being.

The sacred scriptures of Judaism are the Tanakh, a Hebrew acronym standing for Torah (Law or Teachings), Nevi'im (Prophets) and Ketuvim (Writings). These are complemented by and supplemented with various (originally oral) traditions: Midrash, the Mishnah, the Talmud and collected rabbinical writings. The Tanakh (or Hebrew Bible) was composed between 1,400 BCE, and 400 BCE by Jewish prophets, kings, and priests.

The Hebrew text of the Tanakh, and the Torah in particular, is considered holy, down to the last letter: transcribing is done with painstaking care. An error in a single letter, ornamentation or symbol of the 300,000+ stylized letters that make up the Hebrew Torah text renders a Torah scroll unfit for use; hence the skills of a Torah scribe are specialist skills, and a scroll takes considerable time to write and check.

A Bible handwritten in Latin, on display in Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, England. This Bible was transcribed in Belgium in 1407 for reading aloud in a monastery.

The sacred scriptures of most Christian groups are the Old Testament and the New Testament. Latin Bibles originally contained 73 books; however, 7 books, collectively called the Apocrypha or Deuterocanon depending on one's opinion of them, were removed by Martin Luther due to a lack of original Hebrew sources, and now vary on their inclusion between denominations. Greek Bibles contain additional materials.

The vast majority of Christian faiths (including Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity, and most forms of Protestantism) recognize that the Gospels were passed on by oral tradition, and were not set to paper until decades after the resurrection of Jesus, and that the extant versions are copies of those originals. The version of the Bible considered to be most valid (in the sense of best conveying the true meaning of the word of God) has varied considerably: the Greek Septuagint, the SyriacPeshitta, the LatinVulgate, the English King James Version and the Russian Synodal Bible have been authoritative to different communities at different times.

The sacred scriptures of the Christian Bible are complemented by a large body of writings by individual Christians and councils of Christian leaders (see canon law). Some Christian churches and denominations consider certain additional writings to be binding; other Christian groups consider only the Bible to be binding (sola scriptura).

Islam's holiest book is the Qur'an, comprising 114 Suras ("chapters of the Qur'an"). However, Muslims also believe in the religious texts of Judaism and Christianity in their original forms, albeit not the current versions. According to the Qur'an (and mainstream Muslim belief), the verses of the Qur'an were revealed by God through the Archangel Jibrail to Muhammad on separate occasions. These revelations were written down and also memorized by hundreds of companions of Muhammad. These multiple sources were collected into one official copy. After the death of Mohammed, Quran was copied on several copies and Caliph Uthman provided these copies to different cities of Islamic Empire.

The Qur'an mentions and reveres several of the Israelite prophets, including Moses and Jesus, among others (see also: Prophets of Islam). The stories of these prophets are very similar to those in the Bible. However, the detailed precepts of the Tanakh and the New Testament are not adopted outright; they are replaced by the new commandments accepted as revealed directly by God (through Gabriel) to Muhammad and codified in the Qur'an.

Like the Jews with the Torah, Muslims consider the original Arabic text of the Qur'an as uncorrupted and holy to the last letter, and any translations are considered to be interpretations of the meaning of the Qur'an, as only the original Arabic text is considered to be the divine scripture.[75]

Like the Rabbinic Oral Law to the Hebrew Bible, the Qur'an is complemented by the Hadith, a set of books by later authors recording the sayings of the prophet Muhammad. The Hadith interpret and elaborate Qur'anic precepts. Islamic scholars have categorized each Hadith at one of the following levels of authenticity or isnad: genuine (sahih), fair (hasan) or weak (da'if).[76]

Shia Muslims, however, refer to other authenticated hadiths instead.[77] They are known collectively as The Four Books.

The Hadith and the life story of Muhammad (sira) form the Sunnah, an authoritative supplement to the Qur'an. The legal opinions of Islamic jurists (Faqīh) provide another source for the daily practice and interpretation of Islamic tradition (see Fiqh.)

The Qur'an contains repeated references to the "religion of Abraham" (see Suras 2:130,135; 3:95; 6:123,161; 12:38; 16:123; 22:78). In the Qur'an, this expression refers specifically to Islam; sometimes in contrast to Christianity and Judaism, as in Sura 2:135, for example: 'They say: "Become Jews or Christians if ye would be guided (to salvation)." Say thou (O Muslims): "Nay! (I would rather) the Religion of Abraham the True, and he joined not gods with God." ' In the Qur'an, Abraham is declared to have been a Muslim (a hanif, more accurately a "primordial monotheist"), not a Jew nor a Christian (Sura 3:67).

In the major Abrahamic religions, there exists the expectation of an individual who will herald the time of the end or bring about the Kingdom of God on Earth; in other words, the Messianic prophecy. Judaism awaits the coming of the Jewish Messiah; the Jewish concept of Messiah differs from the Christian concept in several significant ways, despite the same term being applied to both. The Jewish Messiah is not seen as a "god", but as a mortal man who by his holiness is worthy of that description. His appearance is not the end of history, rather it signals the coming of the world to come.

Most Abrahamic religions agree that a human being comprises the body, which dies, and the soul, which is capable of remaining alive beyond human death and carries the person's essence, and that God will judge each person's life accordingly after death. The importance of this and the focus on it, as well as the precise criteria and end result, differ between religions.[citation needed]

Judaism's views on the afterlife ("the Next World") are quite diverse. This can be attributed to the fact that although there clearly are traditions in the Hebrew Bible of an afterlife (see Naboth and the Witch of Endor), Judaism focuses on this life and how to lead a holy life to please God, rather than future reward.

In Islam, God is said to be "Most Compassionate and Most Merciful" (Qur'an 1:2, as well as the start of all suras but one). However, God is also "Most Just"; Islam prescribes a literal Hell for those who disobey God and commit gross sin. Those who obey God and submit to God will be rewarded with their own place in Paradise. While sinners are punished with fire, there are also many other forms of punishment described, depending on the sin committed; Hell is divided into numerous levels.

Those who worship and remember God are promised eternal abode in a physical and spiritual Paradise. Heaven is divided into eight levels, with the highest level of Paradise being the reward of those who have been most virtuous, the prophets, and those killed while fighting for Allah (martyrs).

Upon repentance to God, many sins can be forgiven, on the condition they are not repeated, as God is supremely merciful. Additionally, those who believe in God, but have led sinful lives, may be punished for a time, and then eventually released into Paradise. If anyone dies in a state of Shirk (i.e. associating God in any way, such as claiming that He is equal with anything or denying Him), this is not pardonable — he or she will stay forever in Hell.

Once a person is admitted to Paradise, this person will abide there for eternity.[78]

Worship, ceremonies and religion-related customs differ substantially among the Abrahamic religions. Among the few similarities are a seven-day cycle in which one day is nominally reserved for worship, prayer or other religious activities—Shabbat, Sabbath, or jumu'ah; this custom is related to the biblical story of Genesis, where God created the universe in six days, and rested in the seventh.

Jewish women's prayer obligations vary by denomination; in contemporary orthodox practice, women do not read from the Torah and are only required to say certain parts of these daily services.

All versions of Judaism share a common, specialized calendar, containing many festivals. The calendar is lunisolar, with lunar months and a solar year (an extra month is added every second or third year to allow the shorter lunar year to "catch up" to the solar year). All streams observe the same festivals, but some emphasize them differently. As is usual with its extensive law system, the Orthodox have the most complex manner of observing the festivals, while the Reform pay more attention to the simple symbolism of each one.

Catholic worship practice is governed by the Roman Missal and other documents. Individuals, churches and denominations place different emphasis on ritual—some denominations consider most ritual activity optional, see Adiaphora, particularly since the Protestant Reformation.

The followers of Islam (Muslims) are to observe the Five Pillars of Islam. The first pillar is the belief in the oneness of Allah, and in Muhammad as his final and most perfect prophet. The second is to pray five times daily (salat) towards the direction (qibla) of the Kaaba in Mecca. The third pillar is alms giving (Zakah), a portion of one's wealth given to the poor or to other specified causes, which means the giving of a specific share of one's wealth and savings to persons or causes, as is commanded in the Qur'an and elucidated as to specific percentages for different kinds of income and wealth in the hadith. The normal share to be paid is two and a half percent of one's earnings: this increases if labour was not required, and increases further if only capital or possessions alone were required (i.e. proceeds from renting space), and increases to 50% on "unearned wealth" such as treasure-finding, and to 100% on wealth that is considered haram, as part of attempting to make atonement for the sin, such as that gained through financial interest (riba).

Fasting (sawm) during the ninth month of the Muslim lunar calendar, Ramadan, is the fourth pillar of Islam, to which all Muslims after the age of puberty in good health (as judged by a Muslim doctor to be able fast without incurring grave danger to health: even in seemingly obvious situations, a "competent and upright Muslim physician" is required to agree), that are not menstruating are bound to observe—missed days of the fast for any reason must be made up, unless there be a permanent illness, such as diabetes, that prevents a person from ever fasting. In such a case, restitution must be made by feeding one poor person for each day missed.

Finally, Muslims are also required, if physically able, to undertake a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in one's life: it is strongly recommended to do it as often as possible, preferably once a year. Only individuals whose financial position and health are severely insufficient are exempt from making Hajj (e.g. if making Hajj would put stress on one's financial situation, but would not end up in homelessness or starvation, it is still required). During this pilgrimage, the Muslims spend three to seven days in worship, performing several strictly defined rituals, most notably circumambulating the Kaaba among millions of other Muslims and the "stoning of the devil" at Mina.

At the end of the Hajj, the heads of men are shaved, sheep and other halal animals, notably camels, are slaughtered as a ritual sacrifice by bleeding out at the neck according to a strictly prescribed ritual slaughter method similar to the Jewish kashrut, to commemorate the moment when, according to Islamic tradition, Allah replaced Abraham's son Ishmael (contrasted with the Judaeo-Christian tradition that Isaac was the intended sacrifice) with a sheep, thereby preventing human sacrifice. The meat from these animals is then distributed locally to needy Muslims, neighbours and relatives. Finally, the hajji puts of ihram and the hajj is complete.[citation needed]

Judaism and Islam have strict dietary laws, with permitted food known as kosher in Judaism, and halal in Islam. These two religions prohibit the consumption of pork; Islam prohibits the consumption of alcoholic beverages of any kind. Halal restrictions can be seen as a modification of the kashrut dietary laws, so many kosher foods are considered halal; especially in the case of meat, which Islam prescribes must be slaughtered in the name of God. Hence, in many places Muslims used to consume kosher food. However, some foods not considered kosher are considered halal in Islam.[92]

With rare exceptions, Christians do not consider the Old Testament's strict food laws as relevant for today's church; see also Biblical law in Christianity. Most Protestants have no set food laws, but there are minority exceptions.[93]

The Roman Catholic Church believes in observing abstinence and penance. For example, all Fridays through the year and the time of Lent are penitential days.[94] The law of abstinence requires a Catholic from 14 years of age until death to abstain from eating meat on Fridays in honor of the Passion of Jesus on Good Friday. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops obtained the permission of the Holy See for Catholics in the U.S. to substitute a penitential, or even a charitable, practice of their own choosing.[95]Eastern Rite Catholics have their own penitential practices as specified by the Code of Canons for the Eastern Churches.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) embraces numerous Old Testament rules and regulations such as tithing, Sabbath observance, and Jewish food laws. Therefore, they do not eat pork, shellfish, or other foods considered unclean under the Old Covenant. The "Fundamental Beliefs" of the SDA state that their members "are to adopt the most healthful diet possible and abstain from the unclean foods identified in the Scriptures."[Leviticus 11:1–47]among others[96]

In the Christian Bible, the consumption of strangled animals and of blood was forbidden by Apostolic Decree[Acts 15:19–21] and are still forbidden in the Greek Orthodox Church, according to German theologian Karl Josef von Hefele, who, in his Commentary on Canon II of the Second Ecumenical Council held in the 4th century at Gangra, notes: "We further see that, at the time of the Synod of Gangra, the rule of the Apostolic Synod [the Council of Jerusalem of Acts 15] with regard to blood and things strangled was still in force. With the Greeks, indeed, it continued always in force as their Euchologies still show." He also writes that "as late as the eighth century, Pope Gregory the Third, in 731, forbade the eating of blood or things strangled under threat of a penance of forty days."[97]

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints prohibits the consumption of alcohol, coffee, and non-herbal tea. While there is not a set of prohibited food, the Church encourages members to refrain from eating excessive amounts of red meat, and encourages the consumption of fish and white meat.

Sabbath in the Bible is a weekly day of rest and time of worship. It is observed differently in Judaism and Christianity and informs a similar occasion in several other Abrahamic faiths. Though many viewpoints and definitions have arisen over the millennia, most originate in the same textual tradition. Though not a day of rest (creation does not make God tired and therefore He did not rest on the 7th day in Muslim belief), Islam holds Friday as a day of special prayer.[citation needed]

Judaism accepts converts, but has had no explicit missionaries since the end of the Second Temple era. Judaism states that non-Jews can achieve righteousness by following Noahide Laws, a set of moral imperatives that, according to the Talmud, were given by God[98] as a binding set of laws for the "children of Noah" – that is, all of humanity.[99][100]

The Rambam (Rabbi Moses Maimonides, one of the major Jewish teachers) commented: "Quoting from our sages, the righteous people from other nations have a place in the world to come, if they have acquired what they should learn about the Creator". Because the commandments applicable to the Jews are much more detailed and onerous than Noahide laws, Jewish scholars have traditionally maintained that it is better to be a good non-Jew than a bad Jew, thus discouraging conversion. In the U.S., as of 2003 28% of married Jews were married to non-Jews.[101]See also Conversion to Judaism.

Forced conversions are condemned as sinful by major denominations such as the Roman Catholic Church, which officially states that forced conversions pollute the Christian religion and offend human dignity, so that past or present offenses are regarded as a scandal (a cause of unbelief). According to Pope Paul VI, "It is one of the major tenets of Catholic doctrine that man's response to God in faith must be free: no one therefore is to be forced to embrace the Christian faith against his own will."[102] The Roman Catholic Church has declared that Catholics should fight anti-Semitism.[103]

Dawah is an important Islamic concept which denotes the preaching of Islam. Da‘wah literally means "issuing a summons" or "making an invitation". A Muslim who practices da‘wah, either as a religious worker or in a volunteer community effort, is called a dā‘ī, plural du‘āt. A dā‘ī is thus a person who invites people to understand Islam through a dialogical process, and may be categorized in some cases as the Islamic equivalent of a missionary, as one who invites people to the faith, to the prayer, or to Islamic life.

Da'wah activities can take many forms. Some pursue Islamic studies specifically to perform Da'wah. Mosques and other Islamic centers sometimes spread Da'wah actively, similar to evangelical churches. Others consider being open to the public and answering questions to be Da'wah. Recalling Muslims to the faith and expanding their knowledge can also be considered Da'wah.

In Islamic theology, the purpose of Da‘wah is to invite people, both Muslims and non-Muslims, to understand the commandments of God as expressed in the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet, as well as to inform them about Muhammad. Da‘wah produces converts to Islam, which in turn grows the size of the Muslim Ummah, or community of Muslims.

In 1997, Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi claims to have met Jesus in New Mexico.[104] Since then he has exalted God’s love above all religious differences. He describes the sitation in this way: “A Muslim says, 'I am superior to all.' A Jew declares, 'I am even better than the Muslim.' And a Christian says, 'I am greater than both the Muslim and the Jew, and the rest of the religions, because I am the nation of God's Son.'” However, Gohar Shahi himself “declares that superior and best of all is the one who possesses God's love in his heart, in spite of his indifference to any religion.”[105]

Amir Hussain
In 2003, a book called Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism contains a chapter by Amir Hussain on “Muslims, Pluralism, and Interfaith Dialogue” which he shows how interfaith dialogue has been an integral part of Islam from its beginning. From his “first revelation” for the rest of his life, Muhammad was “engaged in interfaith dialogue.” Islam would not have spread without “interfaith dialogue.”[106]

Hussain gives an early example of “the importance of pluralism and interfaith dialogue” to Islam. When some of Muhammad’s followers suffered “physical persecution” in Mecca, he sent them to Abysinnia, Christian nation, where they were “welcomed and accepted” by the Christian king. Another example is Córdoba, Andalusia in Muslim Spain, in the ninth and tenth centuries. Córdoba was “one of the most important cities in the history of the world.” In “Christians and Jews were involved in the Royal Court and the intellectual life of the city.” Thus, there is “a history of Muslims, Jews, Christians, and other religious traditions living together in a pluralistic society.”[107]

Turning to the present, Hussain says that one of the challenges faced by Muslims now are the conflicting passages in the Qur̀an some of which support interfaith “bridge-building,” but others can be used “justify mutual exclusion.” [108]

Trialogue
The 2007 book Trialogue: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Dialogue puts the importance of interfaith dialogue starkly: “We human beings today face a stark choice: dialogue or death!”[109] The Trialogue book gives four reasons why the three Abrahamic religions should engage in dialogue:[110]

1. They “come from the same Hebraic roots and claim Abraham as their originating ancester.”

2. “All three traditions are religions of ethical monotheism.”

3. They “are all historical religions.”

4. All three are “religions of revelation.”

Pope Benedict XVI
In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI spoke about “Interreligious dialogue.” He said that “the Church’s universal nature and vocation require that she engage in dialogue with the members of other religions.” For the Abrahamic religions, this “dialogue is based on the spiritual and historical bonds uniting Christians to Jews and Muslims.” It is dialogue “grounded in the sacred Scriptures” and “defined in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium and in the Declaration on the Church’s Relation to Non-Christian Religions Nostra Aetate. The Pope concluded with a prayer: “May Jews, Christians and Muslims . . . give the beautiful witness of serenity and concord between the children of Abraham.”[111]

Learned Ignorance
In the 2011 book Learned Ignorance: Intellectual Humility Among Jews, Christians and Muslims, the three editors address the question of “why engage in interreligious dialogue; its purpose?”:

James L. Heft, a Roman Catholic priest, suggests “that the purpose of interreligious dialogue is, not only better mutual understanding . . . but also trying . . . to embody the truths that we affirm.”[112]

Omid Safi, a Muslim, answers the question of “why engage in interreligious dialogue?” He writes, “because for me, as a Muslim, God is greater than any one path leading to God.” Therefore, “neither I nor my traditions has a monopoly on truth, because in reality we belong to the Truth (God), Truth to us.”[113]

Reuven Firestone, a Jewish Rabbi writes about the “tension” between the “particularity” of one’s “own religious experience” and the “universality of the divine reality” that as expressed in history has led to verbal and violent conflict. So, although this tension may never be “fully resolved,” Firestone says that “it is of utmost consequence for leaders in religion to engage in the process of dialogue.”[114]

The Interfaith Amigos
In 2011, TED broadcast a 10 minute program about “Breaking the Taboos of Interfaith Dialogue” with Rabbi Ted Falcon (Jewish), Pastor Don Mackenzie (Christian), and Imam Jamal Rahman (Muslim) collectively known as The Interfaith Amigos See their TED program by clicking here.

Divisive matters should be addressed
In 2012, a PhD thesis Dialogue Between Christians, Jews and Muslims argues that “the paramount need is for barriers against non-defensive dialogue conversations between Christians, Jews, and Muslims to be dismantled to facilitate development of common understandings on matters that are deeply divisive.” As of 2012, the thesis says that this has not been done.[115]

Cardinal Koch
In 2015, Cardinal Kurt Koch, the President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and who is “responsible for the Church’s dialogue with the Jewish people,” was interviewed in 2015. He noted that the Church is already engaged in “bilateral talks with Jewish and Muslim religious leaders.” However, he said that it is too early for “trialogue” talks among the three Abrahamic religions. Yet, Koch added, “we hope that we can go in this [direction] in future.”[116]

Omid Safi
In 2016, a 26 minute interview with Professor Omid Safi, a Muslim and Director of the Duke Islamic Studies Center, was posted on YouTube.com. In it, Safi said that his life had been trying to combine “love and tenderness“ which are the “essence of being human” with “social justice.” See the interview by clicking here.

In most of their common history, the three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) have been “ignorant about each other, or worse, especially in the case of Christians and Muslims, attacked each other." In the La Convivencia (The Coexistence) in the 14th and 15th centuries, Muslims, Christians and Jews co-existed in relative peace, but, otherwise, there has been “very little genuine dialogue” between believers in these Abrahamic religions. They have “kept their distance from one another, or were in conflict. . . there has been very little genuine dialogue.”[117] An aspect La Convivencia is shown in a six minute video Cities of Light that documents collaboration between Spanish Jewish, Muslim and Christian scientists in 12th century Spain. It features the works of Maimonides (Jewish philosopher) and Averroes (Muslim philosopher).

The wars between the emerging Islamic Caliphates and the Christian Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire between the 7th and the 11th centuries CE were a series of military, political and religious conflicts which led to the islamization of large territories in the Near East such as Egypt and Syria.

The Crusades (end of 11th – end of 13th century CE) were a series of military expeditions from Western Europe to the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean: a rather unsuccessful attempt by Western (Catholic) Christians to conquer what was perceived by all Christians as the Holy Land from its Muslim inhabitants. In passing, Crusades were also marked with conflicts between Western and Eastern (Orthodox, Syro-Jacobite and Armenian) Christians and unilateral damage inflicted by Western Christians to Jews.

The conquest and the following Reconquista of Spain, and founding of Portugal (beginning of 8th – end of 15th century CE) were a series of wars between Muslims and Christians in the Iberian peninsula resulting in the founding of several Muslim and Christian Medieval states and the final victory of the Catholic Crown of Castile and Aragon against the Muslim Emirate of Granada.

The Ottoman conquest of the Balkan peninsula (mid-14th – end of 15th century CE) followed by a series of wars between the Islamic Ottoman Empire and various Christian powers and alliances (end of 14th – beginning of 20th century CE) was an important political, military and cultural process for South-Eastern Europe resulting in the fall of the Eastern Roman (or Byzantine) Empire and its successor states and finally leading to the emerging of several modern nations in that region.

The Spanish inquisition was an attempt by the Christian Catholic church in Spain in the wake of the centuries long Reconquista to suppress or expel Jews and Muslims and to prosecute Christian heretics. Openly Jewish and Muslim people were expelled rather than killed, but many submitted to forced conversion to Catholicism to avoid expulsion. The Inquisitors often did not trust the converts, and persecuted them cruelly for being secret adherents of their original religions, which was often true but sometimes fabricated. Jewish forced converts were known as "anusim," or sometimes by the pejorative "morrano (pig)."[citation needed]

At various points in history pogroms against Jews were common in Christian Europe, and in many Islamic areas. See blood libel.

The Christian Reformation of the 16th century CE was an attempt towards a religious reform in the Western (Catholic) Christian Church which resulted in a series of Religious Wars between Catholic and emerging Reformist/Protestant Christian forces during the 16th and 17th centuries CE throughout Western Europe.

Historically, the Abrahamic religions have been considered to be Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Some of this is due to the age and larger size of these three. The other, similar religions were seen as either too new to judge as being truly in the same class, or too small to be of significance to the category.

However, some of the restriction of Abrahamic to these three is due only to tradition in historical classification. Therefore, restricting the category to these three religions has come under criticism.[120] The religions listed below here claim Abrahamic classification, either by the religions themselves, or by scholars who study them.

The Bahá'í Faith, which dates only to the late 19th century, has sometimes been listed as Abrahamic by scholarly sources in various fields.[42][121][122]

Though smaller and younger than the well-known Abrahamic religions, the Bahá'í Faith is significant because of its activities, distribution and numbers. The religion is almost entirely contained in a single, organized community with international, national, regional, and local administratiom, without sects or subdivisions and is recognized as the second-most geographically widespread religion after Christianity.[123][124] The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated some 7.3 million Bahá'ís in 2005[125] and the only religion to consistently surpass population growth in each major region of the planet over the last century, often growing at twice the rate of the population.[126]

Bahá'u'lláh (1817-1892), the founder, affirms the highest religious station for Abraham and generally for prophets mentioned among the other Abrahamic religions,[127] and has claimed a lineage of descent from Abraham through Keturah and Sarah.[7][128][129] Additionally Bahá'u'lláh actually did lose a son, Mírzá Mihdí.[130] Bahá'u'lláh, then in prison, eulogized his son and connected the subsequent easing of restrictions to his son's dying prayer and compared it to the intended sacrifice of Abraham’s son.[131]

^Historically, the Bahá'í Faith arose in 19th-century Persia, in the context of Shi'a Islam, and thus may be classed on this basis as a divergent strand of Islam, placing it in the Abrahamic tradition. However, the Bahá'í Faith considers itself an independent religious tradition, which arose from a Muslim context but also recognizes other traditions. The Bahá'í Faith may also be classed as a new religious movement, due to its comparatively recent origin, or may be considered sufficiently old and established for such classification to not be applicable.

Bacquet, Karen (May 2006). "When Principle and Authority Collide: Baha'i Responses to the Exclusion of Women from the Universal House of Justice". Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions. University of California Press. 9 (4): 34–52. doi:10.1525/nr.2006.9.4.034. JSTOR10.1525/nr.2006.9.4.034.

^"So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith." "In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring." (Rom. 9:8)

^Jewish Encyclopedia: Baptism: "According to rabbinical teachings, which dominated even during the existence of the Temple (Pes. viii. 8), Baptism, next to circumcision and sacrifice, was an absolutely necessary condition to be fulfilled by a proselyte to Judaism (Yeb. 46b, 47b; Ker. 9a; 'Ab. Zarah 57a; Shab. 135a; Yer. Kid. iii. 14, 64d). Circumcision, however, was much more important, and, like baptism, was called a "seal" (Schlatter, "Die Kirche Jerusalems", 1898, p. 70). But as circumcision was discarded by Christianity, and the sacrifices had ceased, Baptism remained the sole condition for initiation into religious life. The next ceremony, adopted shortly after the others, was the imposition of hands, which, it is known, was the usage of the Jews at the ordination of a rabbi. Anointing with oil, which at first also accompanied the act of Baptism, and was analogous to the anointment of priests among the Jews, was not a necessary condition".

^According to Encyclopedia Talmudit (Hebrew edition, Israel, 5741/1981, Entry Ben Noah, page 349), most medieval authorities consider that all seven commandments were given to Adam, although Maimonides (Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot M'lakhim 9:1) considers the dietary law to have been given to Noah.

^Encyclopedia Talmudit (Hebrew edition, Israel, 5741/1981, entry Ben Noah, introduction) states that after the giving of the Torah, the Jewish people were no longer in the category of the sons of Noah; however, Maimonides (Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot M'lakhim 9:1) indicates that the seven laws are also part of the Torah, and the Talmud (Bavli, Sanhedrin 59a, see also Tosafot ad. loc.) states that Jews are obligated in all things that Gentiles are obligated in, albeit with some differences in the details.